NCAA BK

Huskies hope talent is there to get back to NCAAs

SEATTLE (AP)

Since he was charged with returning Washington to prominence,
one of Lorenzo Romar's biggest accomplishments is that he's never
gone more than two seasons without taking the Huskies to the NCAA
tournament.

It's a benchmark of where Romar has lifted the Huskies
program.

But avoiding a third straight season without a trip the NCAAs
will be Romar's most difficult task going into the 2013-14 season.
The Huskies are talented and potentially the type of team that
could make a run in the loaded Pac-12 but are unproven in spots and
filled with questions coming off an 18-16 season.

''We have a good group of guys willing to learn, willing to work
hard,'' Washington guard C.J. Wilcox said. ''I think we're going to
surprise some people.''

Washington was picked to finish eighth in the conference in the
preseason poll, an expected placing with the Huskies having just as
many questions as the rest of the conference. The return of Wilcox
gives the Huskies an established scorer to go along with the
addition of prep star Nigel Williams-Goss and forward Perris
Blackwell. But the Huskies enter the season lacking a proven
frontcourt scorer to pair with Blackwell.

Here are five things to watch as the Huskies open the year with
an exhibition against Central Washington on Nov. 6 before the
regular season opener Nov. 10 against Seattle:

WILCOX AND WHO ELSE: Where will Washington get its scoring aside
from Wilcox? He averaged 16.8 points last season and played most of
the year with an injured foot. Even with Wilcox ailing, the Huskies
still had enough scoring options to stay competitive. Wilcox is
healthy, but who will help score is unknown. Guard Andrew Andrews
is the top returning scorer other than Wilcox at 7.8 points per
game, but much of the slack is being placed on Williams-Goss,
Blackwell, Shawn Kemp Jr., and Jernard Jarreau. Blackwell averaged
12.7 points his last season at San Francisco and Williams-Goss
averaged 18 points as a high school senior.

RELYING ON PERRIS: There are a lot of expectations being placed
on Blackwell for the one season Washington will have him on the
floor. Blackwell was a serviceable scorer at San Francisco,
averaging double figures his final two seasons for the Dons. Romar
believes Blackwell can be the consistent interior answer the
Huskies were missing last season. Kemp and Jarreau were
inconsistent, and while graduated center Aziz N'Diaye was a good
defender, he struggled offensively. Blackwell spent all last season
learning Washington's system in the hope he is fluent when he hits
the floor.

DEPTH TO RUN: Romar never felt Washington had the depth or
health last season to push the tempo the way he wanted both
offensively and defensively. The Huskies averaged just 67.9 points
last season, the lowest since the 2000-01 season and the only time
during Romar's tenure that Washington has failed to score at least
72 points per game. On the defensive side, the 12.3 turnovers per
game the Huskies forced were the fewest during Romar's time as
well. That depth will be tested early as Washington gets used to
new defensive rule changes that could find them in foul trouble as
they learn how games will be called.

NIGEL'S HYPE: Williams-Goss is just the fifth Washington player
to have participated in the McDonald's All-American game. He played
for Team USA in the FIBA under-19 World Championships this summer.
He joins the Huskies with a wealth of experience most college
freshmen don't have. Then throw in that he averaged 18 points and
seven assists playing for one of the top prep programs in the
country at Findley Prep in Henderson, Nev., and it's easy to see
why the freshman is expected to be a leader immediately. ''I've
always played with older players at a high level and being a vocal
leader is just something I've always been,'' Williams-Goss said.
''That hasn't changed here.''

NON-CONFERENCE TESTS: Washington has put together a worthy
non-conference schedule. Their home slate lacks excitement with a
Dec. 22 meeting against Connecticut the highlight, but away from
Seattle the Huskies will face challenges. They'll face Indiana in
the 2K Sports Classic in New York and play either Boston College or
Connecticut a night later. They also have two true non-conference
road games, going to San Diego State and Tulane. It's a solid slate
to get the Huskies ready for conference play that begins on Jan. 2
at Arizona State.

Related Stories

Member Comments

Please note by clicking on "Post comment" you acknowledge that you have read the Terms of Use and the comment you are posting is in compliance with such terms. Be Polite. Inappropriate posts may be removed by the moderator.